Monday, August 31, 2009

Remember a few posts back I said how I bought that beautiful Tilli Tomas red silk yarn for a gift for someone else? It is an early birthday present for my sister. She is turning a BIG birthday this year (ya know the kind that ends with a "0" or a "5"?) So for this big birthday she decided she wanted to go to Paris. I started thinking about it and decided she needed a chic scarf for this trip. We looked at patterns on ravelry and narrowed it down to a few. This was not going to be a surprise gift, I figured she deserved to get exactly what she wanted and it was a good thing because she chose the Phiaro Scarf which I probably wouldn't have picked myself. A simple pattern with an interesting construction made it knit up pretty quick. The only strange part is that you end up dropping more than half the stitches you knit. It came out beautifully and has a such a great drape and my sister loved it. I didn't get a chance to take any good photos of the scarf before my sister left so I made her promise to take some pictures of it in Paris. In fact, being the younger sister that I am I bugged the crap out of her that I wanted to see the Scarf at the Louvre, the Scarf at the Arch de Triomphe etc... and oh, she could be in the pictures too if she wanted. Well, she is in Paris at this very moment and with the wonders of modern technology I have learned that Scarfy is enjoying itself and my niece is planning to write a story detailing its adventures in Paris. Scarfy with a view of The Eiffel TowerScarfy at The LouvreM & M & Scarfy

Sunday, August 16, 2009

I could take normal photos of this week's haul from the CSA but I am feeling a bit goofy today (ah hell, I'm pretty goofy most days). It's in the 90s and I have no air-conditioning so I am pleading temporary insanity based on melted brains.

So here is just some of what I got today.

Don't worry no fruits or vegetables were harmed during this filming. Although the tomato and cucumber are headed for the food processor for a yummy asian gazpacho and I may be a total masochist and turn on the oven to make an a small eggplant parmigiana.

Friday, August 14, 2009

My sister and I were talking today about how we're not really good with change. There's a lot of change in the works around us; new schools, friends moving away etc...I told her how I was heading to Haymarket after work to pickup ingredients for some weekend cooking and I that I never want Haymarket to change. I want it to stay it's slightly grungy self with guys yelling "Two fer a dollah!, two fer a dollah", who get pissed when you manhandle the fruit and how some days you need to push your way through the crowd in the bottle necked, narrow section. It's not farmers market pretty, it's Haymarket and some things shouldn't change.

So after work I got a bit sidetracked by walking a co-worker to South Station. He was about to take a bus and a subway instead of the 10 minute walk from our office since he didn't know that "route" (he kept calling it a "route") and didn't trust my directions (walk down street, turn right, see bus station, walk to it) without consulting Google Maps and already had shut down his PC. (Right now Non-Crafty Meg is shouting "That's why you, meaning everyone, should have an iphone!") So I offered to walk him there since it was such a nice evening.

Since I was now at South Station my walk to Haymarket was now different and I found myself walking along the Rose Kennedy Greenway. And that's where I suddenly saw it. A carousel. A carousel in downtown Boston. It was strange and wonderful and made stop dead in my tracks with a silly smile on my face. I will admit I do tend to steer away from the Fanueil Hall area when it is high tourist season but how did I miss this for so long? And why was it not there when I was a kid? I could imagine myself looking back fondly "remember when we got to ride the carousel whenever we got dragged to Haymarket and Mom made us carry heavy melons?"

Maybe a little change isn't so bad.

I had almost reached my destination when two women, tourists, asked me where to find, as they put it, "the italian area". I took this to mean The North End. And as I motioned to them where to go I looked over at where the ugly Expressway had been prior to The Big Dig and I was surprised as I always am that it's not there. Instead you are actually able to see the sky and there are parks and it's pretty. Hmmm....more non-evil change.

So I wish there was a moral here, like I am now embracing change, when life hands you lemons and yada yada yada. But really? Me? I am just a complex gal who likes her city cleaned up, some, but not so much that it loses its charm and becomes a giant mall. I want outdoor cafes but am frightened by the sheer number of Panera's that seem to have sprouted up overnight. I embrace technology and wallow in nostalgia. And I will always, always love a merry-go-round.